


Confrontation

by missmagic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: S8 give me atlas content please, Shiro (Voltron)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 16:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16309082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmagic/pseuds/missmagic
Summary: It wasn’t the sweet gentleness of Shiro that swarmed her.  Instead she was burned by a blistering fury.  She felt something sink its teeth into her and rip and claw its way deep inside and wrenched her.  Her Supernova was gone.  She suddenly could no longer feel her Star, all there was was the intense rage and the cool chill of her Astral Plane.  She was dazed and confused.  Something else had been in Shiro's mind.  Something else had resided itself in her Silver Star.





	Confrontation

**Author's Note:**

> I am firmly a Black Paladin Shiro stan and think that it's complete bs that he isn't a Paladin anymore. However, I'm also in love with Atlas and if being her Captain is the only Shiro content I'm getting then I'm running with it.

They were static.  The fight was finally over and now it was time to rest.  Black hummed to herself within her mindscape, there was very little else to do.  Her Paladin now rested as did the others. A calm that she had not felt in 10,000 years had finally resettled over the universe.  The remains of the Empire still floated from system to system in small groups, trying desperately to hold on to whatever power and influence they had left but without Haggar plaguing the universe now, there was no real threat.  Voltron was not needed for the little bouts of violence that sprung up now and then. However, whilst she was glad that the war was over and that victory had been theirs to claim. She felt, restless.

Everything felt too still.  Even the never changing Astral Plane she had resided in for millenniums felt too fixed and  _ quiet _ .  It was strange.  Her mindscape had always been a refuge from the loud chaos of the physical realm, as vast as the universe itself and just as incomprehensible.  However now it seemed to be a box that pushed against her, she felt as if it would strangle her if she had any need to breathe. Yet, it also felt too vast and infinite that she could drown.  A peculiar paradox. She had been trying for a while now to pinpoint when the change had happened. The answer buzzed deep in her essence, on the tip of her tongue as the Paladins would say. Slowly it came to her, bits and pieces that started to form a picture of the event.

It hit her.  Everything felt different now because her unchanging Plane had been changed.  Her fortress of solitude had been shared. Her second. Her sweet second had warped her mindscape.  It was vast and quiet because she no longer had someone to share it with. His supernova soul no longer mingled with her essence in a soft dance, his light no longer shined in the darkness of her eternal night sky.  His gentle and kind voice no longer whispered to her, breaking the silence. A part of her raged at having let him go. A part angry at the princess for convincing her to let his soul slip from her maw that had held onto him for so long.

And now he was longer here.

He was hers.  Shiro would always belong to her.  He was the only one that she had claimed so deeply.  Her fourth hadn’t come close, and she can feel deep inside herself that her third never will.  Little Red was hers, but not in the way Shiro was. An extension of herself. Together in the Astral Plane, with their souls and quintessence so interlinked they had practically became one in the same.  And now she was missing a piece. She had been broken. Luckly she had Little Red to fill the space left behind. It’s not a perfect fix but it works, she’s a little bit more whole.

Her poor little Silver Star.  He was broken. The witch had done her damage.  They couldn’t connect like before. It hurt her to realise that.  It hurt her even more to let their bond go.

She missed feeling his mind and thoughts brush against hers.  She grew curious to how he was doing. What thoughts raged in his head?  Did he still feel the aches and pains deep in his blood and bone. Their connection was still there, though barely even an inkling of what it once was.  She no longer listened to it, it had continued to wither away until even she could hardly feel it. But it still existed. She wondered if she could still cross that bridge into his being.

With a curious but tentative poke the head of Voltron moved closer to her last tie to Shiro.  It held no vibrance, it no longer pulsed or grew warm. It took much more effort than it had ever before.  Even back at the start, when her Star first sat inside her metal frame and flew with her, it was so easy, he was so open to her before.  Now it felt as if she had to open a heavy door, its hinges rusted.

She got a peek.  A sniff. A single touch of that glorious, beautiful soul that was enough to suddenly surround and threaten to engulf her.  She almost let herself go and sink into the warm glow of her Star’s mind. Almost. Black tried to move closer, she was so close that she could start to make out where he stood, the hum of the ship below his feet.  He shifted. A curious nudge in her direction. She felt his confusion, their bond was now so weak that right now he couldn’t recognise the pull of her on his quintessence. Black was going to purr to him, reassure him of her presence, swallow him up and bask in her Star.  She was going to. But then there was fury.

It wasn’t the sweet gentleness of Shiro that swarmed her.  Instead she was burned by a blistering fury. She felt something sink its teeth into her and rip and claw its way deep inside and wrenched her.  Her Supernova was gone. She suddenly could no longer feel her Star, all there was was the intense rage and the cool chill of her Astral Plane. She was dazed and confused.  Something else had been in Shiro's mind. Something else had resided itself in  _ her Silver Star _ .  

Her own outrage now seared its way through her.  A mighty roar tore itself from her, it echoed throughout the Plane as she whipped around and snarled at the  _ Thing _ that now positioned  _ itself _ between her and the thread thin bond.   _ It _ did not have a form like her.  Here she was a Lioness, as if she was flesh and bone free from her metal skeleton.   _ It  _ was constantly changing and warping.  A crystal, a bird, a mountain, the roar of the Earth’s Ocean, millions of crickets singing in a field, a ship, an Elephant, a Human.   _ It _ would take a physical form and then become a sound, or a scent on the wind, the impression of the feet of a stampede slamming on the ground.  A burning glow of protective fury. 

_ HOW DARE YOU.   _ Black roared at the  _ Thing _ .   _ YOU DARE HIDE IN HIS MIND.  DARE STAND BETWEEN ME AND MINE.   _ Suddenly the Astral Plane wasn’t so dark.  Blinding white and blues scorched the sky and the horizon behind  _ It _ .  Black felt the Earth’s Ocean try and drown her.  An Avalanche try and swallow and bury her. Glowing white cracks reached out like shattered glass from under  _ It _ .  Her serene, unchanging Astral Plane now torn in half by her eternal night sky and an ethereal void of white and blue.  Suddenly,  _ It _ stopped changing.   _ It  _ settled in the form of an Elephant that she had seen  _ It _ become a few times now.  A great white Elephant now towered over her much like how the did on Earth yet  _ It _ felt bigger.  Black had never felt small.  She was the largest Lion. She was the space between planets and the air that birds flew on.  Yet, under the hateful glare of  _ It _ , she suddenly felt like the smallest being in the universe.  

_ HOW DARE I.  HOW DARE I. YOU SCORN ME WHEN IT IS YOU THAT DARES.   _ The bellow from  _ It _ shook the Astral Plane.   _ YOU DARE CALL HIM YOURS WHEN YOU LEFT HIM.  YOU DON’T HAVE A CLAIM TO HIM ANYMORE. HOW DARE  _ _ YOU _ _ CALL HIM YOURS WHEN YOU WERE THE ONE THAT THREW HIM AWAY FOR ANOTHER. _

Glowing blue eyes burned and clashed with her gold.  Who was this? To judge her decisions? Black felt this being before her.  She was surprised to feel its youth, how young it was compared to her ancient soul.  She only growled back. Who was this  _ child  _ to criticize her on something it wouldn’t understand.  There was something familiar about the sheer presence they pushed down on her.  The way their quintessence buzzed and crackled brung up a memory but Black couldn’t bring it to the front of her mind to remember it.  She was the Black Lion. The Head and Body of Voltron. Guardian of the Sky and Cosmos. Who was this.

Ears flapped and large tusks were waved dangerously.  Black had not spoken aloud but they had heard her anyway.  When they spoke, she could hear their youth in their voice now that they weren’t shouting at her.  However their rage still burned in their words.

_ I am Atlas.   _ A feminine voice reached out as her giant feet hutt the ground, she rearranged herself so that she stood right in front of the only connection Black had left to Shiro, blocking it completely.   _ And you are no longer welcomed with him.   _

It all clicked into place for Black.  She and the other Lions had felt something different from the Earth battleship, even when more ships were made on Earth they had never suspected that this one had thoughts and a voice of its own, though, she can guess that most thought the same of her.  However Black did not let her thoughts stray too far from the fact that this new soul, this  _ child _ thought she had the authority to deny Shiro from her.  That she herself had any claim to him.  _ He is mine.  He is my second and my Star.   _

_ He was yours.   _ That was all Atlas said.  Her feet planted steadfast as she stared Black down, a stubborn gleam in her eyes.  Black had to hold back the growl that grew in her throat.

_ He may not be my Paladin anymore but he is still mine.  What right do you have over him? He is nothing to you.  _ Shiro did not have to be her Paladin to still be her Star.  She may have let go of their bond she hasn’t let go of him entirely.  

_ He is my Captain. _  The Elephant narrowed her eyes at Black.   _ And I protect my crew.  What is mine.  _ Atlas did not trust the Lioness before her.  She held no favour or a care to give about the Voltron Lions, but Black most of all.  They were allies. She would tolerate them and house the Lions when needed, had opened and closed the hanger doors quickly enough to ensure that they were safe from Galra fire in time or to stop Galra fighters from coming in themselves.  Would inform her bridge crew of threats to Voltron or if the Lions needed help before they realised it themselves. But that was the extent of her interaction with them. Shiro had tried to convince her to soften her opinion of them. Tried.  He did always say she was a stubborn one.

Black was furious and insulted at Atlas’ insinuation.  That she was a harm to Shiro, something to protect him from.  How dare. How dare! This time she didn’t hold back the roar that burst from her.  Black snarled at her, her teeth gleaming with a dangerous growl rumbling in her chest.   _ You insolent child!  Disrespectful brat! You dare imply that I would ever hurt him!   _

If she could have, Atlas would have raised an eyebrow at her.  Here she thought that the Black Lion was supposed to be calm and always in control.   _ You have hurt him.  You continue to hurt him and I will not let you worsen it.  Not when he’s getting better at letting you go.  _ She watched Black.  Atlas could see that she was about to sprout excuses or continue to deny what she had done to Shiro, so she spoke before the Lioness could.   _ Maybe not physically, but you have hurt him emotionally.  He had claimed you just as much as you say he was yours. He gave Voltron, you, everything he had and what did you do in return?  You shut him out. He was a Paladin through and through. He was, is better than the current Paladins and you cast him out!  _ She was angry.  So so angry.  _ And don’t you dare say that you didn’t intend on hurting him.  You knew it would! You took being a Paladin away from him. _

Black was silent.  Her head lowered slightly as her ears lay flat against her skull.  She didn’t know what she was talking about.  _ I was hurt.  It hurt me to let him go.   _ Atlas’ eyes blazed.

_ I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU!  What you did hurt Shiro in a way that he just can’t bounce back from and everything be fine!  That’s what I care about! You knew how much he valued himself as a Paladin, the sense of purpose it gave him!   _ The ground shook as she slammed her massive foot on the ground. _  You built him up, with you he felt complete, like he could actually bring justice to what had been done to him and was continuing to happen to others and then yOU THREW HIM AWAY!   _

_ HE HAD DIED!   _ The memory of it flashed in her head.  She could feel him growing weaker, his pain from whatever Zarkon had done to him.  Her own terror as he started fading from her. How desperately she tried to grab him before pulling him here, to the Astral Plane.   _ He was with me but he couldn’t pilot from here.  I needed another, I needed a third. He agreed.  _ He agreed with the expectation that he’d be stuck in the Astral Plane forever or until his quintessence faded away.   _ Then he returned to a body but it was different.  The bond was different. He had went through too much, the witch had damaged him beyond what the bond could cope with. _

_ No.   _ Rage tainted her voice.  Rage burned in her eyes. Rage coursed through her.   _ You just didn’t want a less than perfect toy.   _ Atlas couldn’t understand the Lioness.  Couldn’t even begin to understand how she could let someone like Shiro go, perfect or not.   _ He’s not perfect but that’s not a bad thing.  He’s went through a lot but that just proves how strong he is, that he can continue to get up and look the new day in the eye.  He is battle hardened and scarred but he still fights and is wise. He has been damaged, is missing a few parts but he refuses to let that stop him.   _ She loved her Captain.  He was stronger than her in so many different ways and never wanted to lose him.  How could the Lioness not see this?  _ For being as deeply bonded as yous once were, I’d expect you more than anyone to know this.  _

Black sank a little lower.  She knew her Shiro was strong, how determine and full of fight he was.  Anyone could see that, everyone knew the strength of his character and soul.  Atlas wasn’t seeing the point. She doesn’t understand.  _ What do you know?  You’ve been around bearly enough time to understand Shiro so well.   _ She thought Atlas had already had her little explosion, Black quickly learned that she was wrong and that Atlas had much more to say.

Light exploded from Atlas’ side.  Her whites and blues engulfed more of the Plane, blinding Black temporarily from the sheer brightness of it.  Suddenly, it was as if Black was suffocating. She felt as if something far, far larger than her was pressing down.  She could imagine the Earth itself opening up and swallowing her. Fury pushed down on her. Pure, unfiltered fury.

_ I SEEM TO UNDERSTAND MORE THAN YOU DO.  I WAS BORN FROM SHIRO’S STRENGTH! CREATED IN HIS DESIRE TO PROTECT AND SAVE EARTH!   _ Atlas was now more than an Elephant.  She was her ship and mecha form. The roar of a thunderstorm.  The rage of the Earth opening up in an eruption of fire and ash.  The force of her slammed and swept Black away as if struck by the Ocean itself.   _ MY FIRST MOMENT OF EXISTENCE, MY FIRST THING TO EVER EXPERIENCE WAS SHIRO AND HIS LOVE FOR EARTH AND THE PALADINS AND THE UNIVERSE.  HIS DRIVE TO SAVE EVERYONE AND WATCH THE EMPIRE BURN. ALL I KNEW AND COULD FEEL WAS HIM. HIS STRENGTH. HIS LOVE. HIS DETERMINATION.  HIS WILL TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT AND  _ _ WIN _ _!  I DARE YOU TO REPEAT YOURSELF AND TELL ME I DON’T KNOW OR UNDERSTAND SHIRO WHEN HE WAS THE FIRST MIND I EVER FELT.  HE FELT ME. IN HIS NEED FOR A SOLUTION, FOR A CHANCE TO WIN, HE FOUND ME. OPENED UP TO ME. LET ME IN. _

Black couldn’t look away yet it stung her eyes to stare.  Atlas’ voice shook the air and the ground and rumbled in Black’s chest.  She almost hadn’t even taken in what she has just said as she was too focused on how Atlas’ presence continued to push on her, love and utter devotion to Shiro spilled from Atlas.  She couldn’t look away. She didn’t speak up. Black had never experienced such hate and rage being directed at her before, or experienced what it was like to be dwarfed. Too feel small, insignifiant, powerless.  

Atlas raged in silence for who knows how long.  It could have been seconds, minutes or even hours before she had begun to calm.  In her anger she hadn’t even realised that she was holding Black down and slowly eased herself off the more ancient being.  Neither of them moved or spoke. The both of them just sat there existing within the Astral Plane. Black was no longer looking at Atlas.  She didn’t know if she was back in her Elephant form or if she still was there as a near indescribable mass of sound and the impression of feeling and a physical form.  The Lioness was blank, of thought and emotion. Too drawn back into herself to feel that Atlas has also drawn herself back to her place in front of the bond. She was done here.  Black didn’t need to tell her for Atlas to know that she had gotten the message. 

_ … I didn’t want to hurt him…   _ Atlas was more than surprised to hear Black speak.   _ I… never wanted to hurt him, he is my Silver Star.  My supernova soul… Me not wanting him is not the impression that I wanted to give him…   _ She had spoken softly, almost a whisper.  Atlas wondered if she was actually talking to herself and not to her.

_ But you did.  You did hurt him.  When he woke up after being placed in his new body… he was so lost to not feel you.  He couldn’t hear you anymore. He tried desperately to get your attention, he begged into the space where the bond use to be.   _ Atlas didn’t want to remember and recite what he had went through and how he felt…  How he still feels. But, Black needed to hear this.  _ The very least you could have done was  _ _ talk _ _ to him.  Explain and reassure him that it wasn’t because he’s not worthy or is too broken.  Given him some form of closure.  _ She couldn’t hold back a sigh, she felt tired.   _ It’s too late now.  If you were to interact with him now, it would just sent him in a backwards spiral and he’ll be back to square one.   _ And with that, she left Black in the Astral Plane to her thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts.


End file.
